Hi everyone, my husband and I will be going to Switzerland, Belgium and France. I plan to use the Eurail between countries, but should I also plan to use it for transportation in the cities we’ll be in to get to our tourist destinations? Or what is the best way to use public transportation within each city.
We plan on doing Zurich, Bern, Swiss alps, Brussels, Paris and Lyon.
I don't think that pass will help you in Switzerland. When is your trip? Most hotels in Switzerland give you a mobility pass for local transport. Of course, the lifts in the Alps have their own specific passes. I'd suggest Lucerne over Bern, unless you have a specific reason for Bern.
Have a wonderful trip. Safe travels!
I would highly recommend you buy the Rick Steves guide books for these destinations. Rick gives great advice in his books about how to get around. When spending so much on a trip to Europe I find the cost of the book is minimal and adds SO much value to the trip as a whole.
For train advice especially on Eurail passes - how to use them, if they're a good value I find the man in seat 61 website invaluable.
Eurail is an agency that sells Rail Passes, etc. but they don't actually operate any trains. For the rail trips you mentioned, you'll be using the rail networks in each country, and the best way to get specific information is to use the websites of the rail networks. It's difficult to provide specific information as you didn't provide any details on where in the "Swiss Alps" you'd be visiting, or which order you'd be visiting each location.
You may find this helpful - https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains . The Rick Steves guidebook Europe Through The Back Door will also be helpful.
Here's the website for The Man In Seat 61 that was mentioned in a previous reply - https://www.seat61.com/ .
I second the suggestion to choose Lucerne instead of Bern. When will this trip be taking place?
are you over 65? Belgium is very inexpensive for us older folks.
When is the trip?
For faster trains in France you will need a mandatory fee for their use in addition to your Eurailpass.
Do you have the pass bought already?
Eurail typically does not cover city transportation. What the best way is for using transport in each city depends on the city...
Now for this trip it is probably best to start or end in Brussels. You could do Zurich - Bern - Bernese Oberland - Geneva - Lyon - Paris - Brussels for example.
For travel in France do not use the Eurail pass. It is complicated to use. Just book your train tickets directly with SNCF.
For Switzerland: Get the Half Fare Card, and just buy tickets as you go.
can't comment about belgium or switzerland but having traveled in france, spain, italy germany and austria i can tell you that i never felt the need to use eurail. i find buying tickets as i go on the national rail networks via their apps the easiest thing to do. just download, add cc info and i am all set. i don't even use services like trainline unless i have to. private rail networks like thales, italo, ouigo, iryo etc. have very similar apps. for travel within a city i do the same thing, use city-specific public transportation apps. if you do use apps it is generally best to download and set up payment before you leave your home country.
For Brussels the trains (company: SNCB) are www.belgiantrain.com (domestic), www.b-europe.com (international (i.e. to other countries)). The local transport (bus, tram, metro) is mostly STIB/MIVB (https://www.stib-mivb.be/index.htm?l=en). If you take trips to Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp the local transport company for Flanders is De Lijn, but you can catch a normal domestic train to each of those and walk it from the station or catch a cab. Belgian cities are normally small and walkable, with the exception of Brussels, but if you stay near to the centre where most of the museums are you should have little need of public transport (unless you want to see the Atomium and Mini-Europe).
Lavandula
